Leasing the state's wholesale liquor distribution system to JobsOhio to provide a dedicated funding source of about $100 million annually for job creation is a key component to reforming Ohio's economic development efforts under Gov. John Kasich. The governor unveiled the plan last week as part of the 2012-13 biennial budget. The proposed budget also sets aside $33 million in the second year of the biennium to facilitate the transfer of economic development initiatives from the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) to the newly established nonprofit corporation.

Lawmakers approved many of Gov. Bob McDonnell's proposals aimed at growing Virginia's technology and life sciences industries by dedicating about half of the funding requested by the governor to support R&D, commercialization, SBIR matching grants, and funding for early stage equity investments.

Created as the successor to two longstanding and accomplished tech-based economic development organizations — the Washington Technology Center (WTC) and the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute (SIRTI) — Innovate Washington will serve as the state's primary agency responding to tech transfer needs and strengthening university-industry partnerships. Innovate Washington also will coordinate the state's clean energy initiatives.

A competition aimed at helping move innovative ideas from the lab into the marketplace was announced this week by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Administration (EDA). In partnership with the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, EDA will award $1 million each to six teams across the nation with the most innovative ideas to drive technology commercialization and entrepreneurship. NSF will award $6 million to SBIR grantees associated with the winning teams.

University-focused initiatives that help bring new technologies and products to market help drive regional economic development and encourage an entrepreneurial culture on campuses. SSTI’s latest Trends in TBED report featured a number of commercialization efforts launched in 2013, including university-based funds to support ideas from faculty, staff and alumni. So far, 2014 also has proven active in this area with the announcement of several new initiatives to support university technology startups.

Corporate-sponsored research resulted in licenses and patents much more frequently than federally sponsored projects at the campuses of the University of California system, according to findings published in Nature. A 20 year study found that industry support was more likely to produce patents, licenses and future citations in all fields of research. Projects that received both corporate and federal support were even more likely to generate useful intellectual property.

Of the 118 university-based startups launched in Illinois between 2006-13, about 73 percent remain in the state, according to the latest issue of the Illinois Innovation Index. The 2013 fourth quarter report of the Index focuses on the recent strides made by the state in building a stronger technology transfer pipeline. During the five-year period of 2008-12, Illinois universities received 47 percent more patents than they did during the 2003-07 period, almost triple the national growth rate.

In his State of the State address, Gov. Neil Abercrombie stressed the importance of investing in innovation to diversify the state's economy and grow Hawaii's economic base, traditionally rooted in military and tourism. To this end, the governor wants to back startup companies with $20 million over two years for what he considers the critical building blocks of an innovation ecosystem: research commercialization, entrepreneur mentoring and the mobilization of startup investment capital.

New legislation passed by the California legislature would expand the state’s Innovation Hub (iHub) program, which supports commercialization and entrepreneurship at a regional level. The program initially was launched in March 2010 through the state’s Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.

Hoping to draw attention to declining federal funding for basic research, a nonprofit group of public and private research universities unveiled a report highlighting the success of 100 companies that trace their roots to a federally funded research university. Of the companies highlighted, 89 remain in business today, which is far better than the U.S. average new business survival rate of 50 percent after five years, the report notes. Moreover, 16 of the 20 youngest companies (less than five years old) also remain in business.

Because universities are increasingly seen as hubs for regional economic development, many institutions are reorganizing their business engagement efforts to eliminate the barriers between universities and the innovation community. Recently, the University of New Hampshire, the University of Michigan Medical School and the University of Texas at Arlington all announced plans to streamline and redesign their innovation services, aiming to increase their contribution to regional job and business creation.

Follow-on funding, access to technology, talent and resources all can be barriers to commercialization and successfully spinning off sustainable companies. Always seeking a quicker, more viable path to market for technologies and products, university-based programs and public-private partnerships try to tackle these hurdles, which often times are region-specific. Such is the case in Long Island, NY, where a recent partnership between a nonprofit organization and venture capital firm is working to address access to capital concerns.

Two universities, the University of New Mexico (Albuquerque, NM) and the University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ), are expanding or restructuring their economic development operations to improve commercialization of technology stemming from faculty research and the coordination and business development in their communities.

Lawmakers last week passed a $74.5 billion FY14 budget that expands efforts to commercialize research and boosts funds for life sciences and space-related investments. Under a sweeping new education bill, universities can qualify and receive additional resources as preeminent research universities. The measure also designates some higher education funding based on performance, and allows colleges to create low-cost degree programs.